User blog:John Pan/Shadow-class
In the early 21st century, the USN tried to organize all the light coastal defense ships into one, the Littoral Combat Ship. However, the Independence sucked, and the Freedom wasn't much better than the previous-generation ships it was supposed to replace. Their designs were plagued with overboard modularization, overemphasis on stealth (which meant reducing the number of guns for radar signals to bounce off of) and bad project leadership. Sub-par performance in the GNC nailed it in the coffin. After the formation of the NAU, they tried again, with an emphasis on Littoral combat patrol, and a grand total of one weapon module: the VLS cluster. Type: Missile Boat, Corvette Internal designation: Littoral Combat Ship, LCS Displacement: 3,500 Tons Number: 200 in 2033 Purpose The Shadow-class is meant to patrol the littoral sea, keeping a healthy anti-ship, anti-air and anti-submarine capability as well as being able to support friendly forces on the beach or farther inland. Capacity One NH-51 Fire Pelican is carried to serve as the ship's scout, anti-submarine platform, and anti-light boat platform. The Shadow-class can also deploy and recover four inflatable M134-armed rubber boats carrying a squad of Navy Grenadiers each. Anti-Surface Suite A mast-mounted multipurpose GUARDIAN-pattern radar takes care of target acquisition. Although small and relatively weak, the AESA is enough for Littoral operations. AGS (1) The Shadow-class mounts a single Advanced Gun System, a stealth-treated, indirect sight and Fire Control Radar-equipped 155mm L/62 Howitzer. Loaded with PHE round loaded with over twenty kilograms of High Explosives and a Hardened Steel ballistic cap, the Shadow-class can provide excellent fire against ship targets within 5 kilometers. Outside of such distances, the Shadow must rely on Excalibur GPS-guided munitions to reliably hit anything. In land-attack mode, the Shadow can fire 155mm Excalibur shells to a maximum of sixty kilometers. Mk. 76 VLS The Mark 76 VLS can support six RGM-200 Anti-Ship Missiles. RGM-200s are the naval-launch variant of the AGM-200 Trident. The only major difference between the two is a cold-launch compressed Nitrogen charge to push the Trident into the outside world before igniting its rocket booster. The RGM-200 can reliably attack ships 200 kilometers away. Anti-Air Suite A mast-mounted multipurpose GUARDIAN-pattern radar takes care of target acquisition. Although small and relatively weak, the AESA is enough for Littoral operations. Mk. 76 VLS The Shadow-class requires the VLS to be fitted with quad-pack SL-AIM-88s to have anti-air capability. The SL-AIM-88 differs from the air-launched version in only the cold-launch compressed Nitrogen charge that flings the missile out of the launcher. The SL-AIM-88 can take out aircraft 150 kilometers from the launcher. Anti-Submarine Suite The Shadow class has a basic bow-mounted sonar array to find where underwater dangers may lurk. It can launch it's NH-51 Fire Pelican to attack such targets with its air-dropped torpedoes. Upgrades A)ARSOCs To provide the LCS itself with the capability to fight submarines, the VLS can be loaded with Advanced Ship-Launched Torpedoes, six of them. They pop out of the launcher via compressed Nitrogen charge, are boosted into the water by a rocket, then tears through the water at a maximum of 75 knots. It can deliver its 750lb blast-fragmentation warhead 70 kilometers through the water. Protection Being close to land the Shadow-class comes under autocannon fire and ramming boats far more than ocean-going compatriots. Therefore, the Shadow-class is protected by a layer of Chobham-II Composite armor to keep anything the size of a 30mm APFSDS shell out of the ship's interior. Guided weapons can be jammed by the onboard E/O jammer or chaff and flares dispenser. The Shadow-class also has the RCS of a speedboat and is as quiet as a submarine. Goalkeeper Mk. II (1) The Shadow-class also carries a rear-facing Goalkeeper Mk.II Close In Weapons System to blow missiles out of the sky with the tried-and-tested GAU-8 Avenger Gatling chaingun before they cause any harm. The Goalkeeper Mk. II is fitted with an X-band and Ku-band Fire Control Radar to find and attack targets, and the GAU-8 is fed with a 600-round Sabot drum magazine. DDCL (2) To provide protection against underwater threats, the Shadow-class carries two Defensive Depth Charge Launchers. It is a rotating carousel-style 180mm projectile launcher, a scaled down multipurpose munition launcher of the pre-crisis era. The 180mm depth charges it launches are shot into intercept angle and programmable to select a certain depth or use its nose-mounted Magnetic Anomaly Detector detonate its 100lb of high explosive. Potent enough to take out a torpedo. Propulsion The Shadow-class is driven by two General Electric GTSnx-1B16 gas turbines, the same ones found in the LCAC-II. Unlike the LCAC-II however, the turbines are free from pumping air into a bottomless pit, so to speak, and can provide the much heavier Shadow-class with the energy to cruise at 30 knots. In times when speed is crucial, they can go into overdrive and supply the electric motors turning the propellers with a maximum of 80MW combined and push the Shadow-class to 50 knots. Maximum range 4,000 nautical miles. Category:Blog posts